Process of making battery-plates.



E: G. DODGE;

PROCESS OF MAKING BATTERY APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1911.

1,45,8%2, Patenaed Eec.3,1912.

W/HVESSE INVENTUR EBEN-G-DQDGE part . G n 'sourrromuen, uEW'JEasEY,

1 successorJunk-Ina BATTERY-runes.

eashes;

To all" whom it may mm: 3 i

Be it known that I, EBEN G. DODGE, a Cltl:

'Zen of theUnited States, and a resident of South Orange, in the county of Essex and State of .NewJersey, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in a ,Process of Making Batt ery Blatea'of which the fol-,

lowing is a specification. d

My invention relates .to the'method of manufacturing battery plates comprising some metallic depolarizing material like' copper oxid and a backing orsupport therei and my present application is designed compressing a plastic for fused together.

"Briefly .1 stated, my

invention consists in mass of the depo1ar izing substance-upon a backing of a' suitable character for permitting the parts to be united by fusion, by which compression the plastic mass but is also caused to make close and mate. union with the surface of the backing,

and thereafter firingthebacking and the compressed mass of depolarizing material at a suitable temperature to harden or age glomerate the depolarizing substance, and at the same time produce a union between it and its backing by fusion.

My. invention is particularly applicable to the manufacture ofbattery plates or e ements composed essentially of copper oXi as in the well-known coppenoxid battery having a zinc or positive element-and a copper oxid negative element.

' A battery element of the construction herein described'i's claimed in my prior application filed July 1st, 1907, No. 381,591,. to

' cover the process or method of manufacture of the same.

In the accompanying drawings, the figure is a vertical transverse section through a battery plate or element, to the manufacture of which my present invention is applicable.

In this drawing the mass of copper'oxid or other metallic compound is indicated at 2, while its support late is indicated at 3.

Obviously, the invention would be likewise applicable to constructing a battery plate or elementhaving copper oxid on both surfaces of the support plate 3. The backing or support plate may be composed of finely divided material consolidated into a hard mass, as herein described, or may be a solid material;

I will describe my invention as applied to Specification of Letters Patent.

lma-nufacturing a battery element in which l l l the backing is composed of finely divided material ground to the desired degree of fineness or otherwise into a plastic mass and compressed into solid plate. I

copper or 'otheroxid so compression of. a plastic mass ofthe copper oXid and of themass of plasticmaterial forming its backing may be donev in one op eration. The operation, howeverywould be essentially the same in solid material is employed and as will be Patented p ece, iaia'. Application filed November at, 1911.; Serial No. 658,466. 7

divided and made up v My present inventionis e specially useful in constructing the element when made from I backed because the case abacking of I readily understood from the .subjoined descripticn. Y Whatever the,

follows: The backing being placed in tic mass of the copper or other .oXid rendered plastic by mixing with-a suitable liquid, is spread to thedesired thickness over the backing and compressed thereon, thereby bringing with the surface of the backing, after which the backing and the applied layer of oxid are together fired at a suitable temperature, such as usually employed in'the art. for consolidating or hardening copper'oxid plates,

thereby fusing the copper oxid mass and atthe same time forming an intimate fused the backing,

union between the same and which is itself of proper character to lend itself tothe union of backing and superposed layer by the firing process.

Assuming that the support plate 3 is made of some ground or finely divided mapumice, the procedure is as follows: The material constituting the backing is made up into a plastic mass by mixing the same with a solution of caustic soda or other suitable flux and is spread inalayer of the desired thickness in a mold. Over this the layer of copper oxid made into a plastic mass in the usual or any proper manner is spread. Preferably, plastic mass I employ the usual solution of caustic soda but do not limit myself to the use of any particular solution. This plastic mass is spread ,over the earthy material in the mold and the two layers are then coma suitable mold or form, the plasterial molded and compacted by pressure,.. as for instance of an earthy material or- I form of backing employed, is not only partially solidi-lied the operation more generally stated, would intibe conducted as 7J5v it into intimate contact in making sucl1 f described as both. The same 0 tic'e when the than. in the same probably to "t pressed in a hydraulic way heretofore adopted for making the plate composed wholly of copper oxid. The plate thus. constructed is then fired at a'temperature of one thousand degrees Fahrenhelt more or less or such" temperature as would be usually employed n making compressed and solidified plates composed wholly of copper oxid. The result is an intimate unionor coal scenceof the oxid and the backing which-cahbe best a fusion of the surfaces of the two layers to ether, such fusion being due he presence of the flux in the material of the backing plate and in the layer of the copper oxid or in either or eration of firin obviously also results in theusual solidification orhardening of the copper oxid itself such as is brought about in previous rac-' late is composed Whol y of copper oxid. wing to this semi-fusion or union of the opposed surfaces of. the" mass of copper oxid together with the solidification and hardenin of the co per oxid itself, there is little liability to isintegration or detachment of the copper oxid portion of the-plate from its support pdate or backing and which will thereforeigive very long service at small initial cost.

Obviously, my invention is applicable to the construction of battery elements in which the backing plate 1s composed of other substances mixed with a fluxing maplied to the construction of battery elements For this portion of the gronnd pum ce may. be

copies of this patent may be obtained tor five cents each, by addressing the 0o1nmiss1oner of Patents,

' 1 Washington, D. 0.

in which the backing is other than a fiatplateor backing or is imperforate.

In pl'ac'of the solution of caustic soda as a flux or binder, any other flux such as is used.in pottery work might be employed in making up the ba'ckin when composed of a mass of finely divided earthy material.

compound plate press to compactit may be apfi employed as; set

1. The herein described method of 'manu- I facturin battery plates comprising a mass oimeta lic oxid and a backing consisting in applying a plastic mass of said oxid upon the backing and then firing the two at' a temperature sufliciently thigh oxi and unite said backing, solidating or it by its meeting surface to while at the same time conhardemng the e oxid.

2. Theherein described method of manufacturing a battery element comprising copper 'ozdd and a backing consisting in applying a mass of the copper oxid upon the backing and then firing to harden the 'OXld and at the'sametime unite it with the base by a fusion of bOth. i

3. The herein described method of manu,- facturing a battery element comprising a mass of metallic oxid and a backing composed of a mass of'compressed iinely divided earthy material consisting in compressing a plastic mass of the oxid plastic mass of the earthy material and then firing to consolidate the oxid and unite the same to the backing.

' 4. The herein facturing a battery element comprising copper oxid and abacking of earthy material consisting in forming. the earthy material into a plastic mass with asuitable mass of the the meeting surface of upon a described method of manu--.

to fuse the made plasticupon the mass of earthy material and then firing at a temperature suitable for solidifying the co per oxid Signed at New ork in the county of New York and State of New York this 3rd day of November, A. D. 1911.

EBEN G. DODGE. Witnesses:

F. B. TowNsnNo, M. A. Form. 

